‘Transit’ Archives
Transit: Public Transit
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON Metro Transit is planning to run extra service temporarily while the out of town Super Bowl crowd is here to ensure they get around. That”'s nice. However, what would be extra nice is if they would consider making some of the extra service permanent. Here are my thoughts on what parts of the extra service should be kept: Route 94: Extra service every 15 minutes from noon to 7 PM on weekends, and 2 to 7 PM on weekdays. While the weekday afternoon service on this route is adequate, or at least almost so, restoring weekend service would be a boon. Route 94 used to run seven days a week, at pretty much all hours except in the middle of the night. This was cut back to weekdays during the day only once the Green Line was instituted. The problem is, while the Green Line is great for trip to stations between downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul, it is slower than the 94 for those going all the way from one end to the other. Restoring more hours to the 94 [...]
Transit: War Simulation, SB LII, Giveth and Taketh
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON The Super Bowl giveth, and the Super Bowl taketh away. For transit users in the Twin Cities, the Super Bowl mostly taketh away; while the Metropolitan Council giveth the use of our light rail trains to rich tourists who can afford Super Bowl tickets. Meanwhile, our poor bus drivers are threatening to go on strike during the Super Bowl to call attention to the perfectly legitimate need to have some protection from riders who assault them. What is to be done? Shall we wait around like sitting ducks for the other shoe to drop? The Council wants to throw us a bone by offering free bus rides to us “regular citizens” on Super Bowl Sunday, while the elite with their game day passes get to ride our trains, all in the name of security. Sure, we all want the Super Bowl to be a safe venue, but does the Super Bowl want us to be safe? Will security be so concentrated around the stadium my friend calls the “Sinking Ship” as to ignore other parts of [...]
